Six EU states granted visa-waivers

Six additional EU countries will be added to the US visa-waiver programme “in about a month”, according to US President George Bush, a move that means that people from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will be able to visit the US for up to 90 days without needing a visa.

They would, though, need to obtain advance travel authorisation before boarding a plane.

Speaking alongside representatives from the six countries on 17 October, Bush said all six had “met the requirements to be admitted”. Ambassadors from other EU countries outside the programme were also present, and Bush said he “looked forward to the day” they join. He did not specify, however, when that will be.

The expansion of the programme follows a revision of US visa-waiver law in 2007 that allows the US department of homeland security to waive the rule that a country must have a visa-refusal rate of less than 3%. It requires, however, that countries meet certain security criteria – relating, for instance, to airport security and security features in travel documents – and that they co-operate with the US on counter-terrorism policy, including the sharing of airline passenger data. All of the countries now entering the programme have signed security co-operation treaties with the US, most recently Slovakia on 8 October.

US citizens are allowed to travel throughout the EU without needing a visa. Up to now, however, only 15 EU member states have been in the US visa-waiver programme. The European Commission said, in a report adopted in July, that it was considering forcing US diplomats to apply for visas if more countries were not allowed into the programme by the end of the year. The EU-US summit in June agreed that that two sides would pursue new twin-track negotiations on expanding the visa-waiver programme, meaning that the US would negotiate bilaterally with member states on some issues (such as the presence of air marshals on planes) and with the European Commission on others (such as access to EU databases).

People from visa-waiver countries currently need to fill out a security questionnaire on board their flight to the US before they are allowed to enter the country. From 12 January 2009, however, people will be required instead to get advance authorisation before boarding their flight, by filling out a form on the internet (a system known as Electronic System for Travel Authorisation- ESTA). The US authorities will then check the details against watch-lists and other databases. Although the system is currently free of charge for users, US officials have not ruled out the possibility of imposing a charge in the future.

The US is also planning to introduce an electronic system to check that people leave the country, and do not ‘overstay’ their visa.

Six EU countries remain outside the programme: Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. Greece remains outside despite having a very low visa-refusal rate (1.6%). According to a Greek official, this is because the country has yet to comply with US demands on security co-operation.

South Korea has also been admitted into the programme, as part of the same expansion.